Role of transnational and national education policies in realisation of critical thinking: the cases of Sweden and Kosovo

Abstract

Against the backdrop of the push from the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development for competence-based curricula, this article problematises the complexity of developing twenty-first century skills, such as critical thinking, by addressing the role transnational and national policy contexts play in realising critical thinking in the national contexts of Sweden and Kosovo. The article distinguishes between policy-critical thinking and civic-critical thinking. Relying on analyses of curriculum and policy documents, it is concluded that while in the Swedish context critical thinking competence (or ability) seems to be much more implicit than explicit, in Kosovo, the national curriculum makes explicit references to thinking competences as a form of policy-critical thinking and civic competencies as a form of civic-critical thinking. Thus, students in both contexts have opportunities to develop critical thinking skills. Furthermore, Sweden emerges as a divergent case and Kosovo as a convergent case with regard to transnational policy flow research paradigms.     

Teacher autonomy and responsibility variation and association with student performance in Didaktik and curriculum traditions

The primary objective of the study was to empirically test theoretical claims made about differences between Didaktik and curriculum traditions concerning teacher autonomy (TA) and teacher responsibility (TR). It tests the hypothesis that TA and TR are higher among Didaktik than curriculum countries. The second objective was to explore associations of TA and responsibility measures with students’ science performance? Nationally representative data from 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), collected through a two-step random selection process were used. For TA individual items Mann–Whitney rank-sum test was employed, while a difference of proportion test was used for TR items to examine the differences. Hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) was used to examine association of TA and TR items with students’ science performance in PISA 2009. Overall and contrary to the initial hypothesis, teachers in curriculum countries enjoy both more autonomy and responsibility than teachers in Didaktik countries, but differences were substantively weak. Furthermore, within-country associations of autonomy and responsibility measures with students’ science performance were found in a few countries. Further research is recommended to address TA and responsibility and complexities that accompany them in current stakeholder-crowded school contexts.     

Higher Education in Kosovo: Major Changes, Reforms, and Development Trends in the Post-Conflict Period at the University of Prishtina

In this paper the author investigates the developments that took place at the University of Prishtina since the end of the conflict in 1999. It starts with a historical background on the University of Prishtina, and continues with the major changes during the past five years including the Declaration of Bologna. Included in this discussion are some insights on the major reforms at the University of Prishtina, and some of the problems that the university professors and other local stakeholders have faced in grasping the reforms. The paper highlights the need for local ownership of the reforms as the first step toward pushing the process further.     

Educational Change in Post-war Kosovo: Perceptions of Kosovo Educators as Presented in Shkëndija

After the Kosovo conflict ended in June 1999, Kosovo educational authorities, backed extensively by international technical assistance, introduced educational changes for the first time after a decade of isolation. Educational policy documents started to shift rhetoric of teaching and learning practices from traditional, largely content-based, into more democratic contemporary, and learner-centred, ones. The introduced changes required Kosovo educators to implement new curriculum, new teaching methodologies, and new assessment techniques. Further, they had to go through professional development programmes to get ready to live up to newly laid out expectations. This paper discusses perceptions of a limited number of Kosovo educators about post-war educational change as presented in Shkëndija, the only local monthly educational magazine published in Prishtina, Kosovo’s capital, between 2002 and 2007. The findings suggest that while educators adopted most of the policy talk advocated by the reform agenda, they lacked ownership over the process and faced a myriad of challenges during the implementation phase. A few areas for further research are identified.     

Didáctica de las Matemáticas y Psicología

Resumen

En la primera parte se presenta una aproximación a la Didáctica de las Matemáticas como una disciplina autónoma, interdisciplinar, con un campo teórico y práctico propio, en fase de desarrollo. Seguidamente se describen las características de los planteamientos didácticos de la educación matemática en los últimos 30 años, poniendo de relieve las claves psicológicas que están informando las distintas tendencias. Finalmente se resumen las líneas de trabajo que hoy se perfilan dentro de la investigación en Didáctica de las Matemáticas, con especial mención de los trabajos dedicados a los procesos cognitivos implicados en el aprendizaje de conceptos matemáticos, con breves referencias al estudio del comportamiento matemático y del aprendizaje de las Matemáticas desde una perspectiva social.     

The “New Environmental Paradigm” in a Mexican Community

Abstract

A sample of 422 Mexicans from a medium-sized city responded to the New Environmental Paradigm-Human Exception Paradigm (NEP-HEP) scale, which assesses peoples' beliefs about human-environment relations. The NEP scale contains questions referring to the need for a “natural balance” and “limits to human impact on nature.” In contrast, implicit in the HEP scale is a view of humankind as different from and with control over nature. The responses of the interviewees revealed higher levels of adherence to the NEP than to the HEP. However, confirmatory factor analysis showed the covariances between pro-NEP and pro-HEP factors to be high and significant, indicating that the participants did not see the two paradigms as mutually exclusive, as do members of some industrialized societies. The results point to a more holistic view of human relations with the environment, in contrast to the dualistic vision of some western countries.     

Stimulating creativity and innovation through Intelligent Fast Failure

Literature on creativity and innovation has discussed the issue of failure in the light of its benefits and limitations for enhancing human potential in all domains of life, but in business, science, engineering, and industry more specifically. In this paper, the Intelligent Fast Failure (IFF) as a useful tool of creativity and innovation for maximizing personal and institutional productivity, relevance and value is reviewed. In particular, IFF is a useful teaching and learning tool for public and private educational contexts. IFF, a term coined by Jack V. Matson in late 1980s and early 1990s, demystifies the aversion from failure, encourages calculated and well-informed risk-taking and initiative, and whenever applied, either yields results that could benefit individuals, organizations and society at large or teaches lessons for future endeavors. IFF and some of its derivatives used by various authors and institutions are explored along with some examples of its applications, and its potential and limitations in the 21st century.